South Africa civil unrest leads to supply chain disruption

A serious disruption to South Africa supply chains has been caused by the civil unrest in the country with the situation being tense due to rioting, looting and burning of vehicles across the country.

The German carrier Hapag-Lloyd has announced that its terminals have been impacted and it has published the following status of its facilities:

“We understand that given the situation, there will be an impact on your cargo planning and for that, you have our support as we navigate through these difficult times together,” said the company in its statement.

The Danish shipping powerhouse, Maersk has also announced that the impact of South Africa unrest has resulted in some of its depots being shut down and terminals operating with “skeleton staff”.

“We realise that some cargo owners will temporarily cease operations during this period resulting in the disruption of Imports and Exports,” commented the Copenhagen-based box line.

Therefore, Maersk has decided that no detention will be invoiced from 12 to 19 July. “If there are any demurrage charges applicable it will be in line with the advise from Transnet,” added the company.